Stoddart, D. R., McLean, R. F., and Hopley, D., 1978. Geomorphology of reef islands, northern Great Barrier Reef. Philosophical
Transactions Royal Society of London, Series B, 284, 39–61.
Stoddart, D. R., and Steers, J. A., 1977. The nature and origin of
coral reef islands. In Jones, O. A., and Endean, R. (eds.), Biology
and Geology of Coral Reefs. New York, Academic Press, Vol. 4
(2), pp. 59–105.
Stoddart, D. R., Fosberg, F. R., and Spellman, D. L., 1982. Cays of
the Belize Barrier Reef and Lagoon. Atoll Research Bulletin,
256.
Umbgrove, J. H. F., 1947. Coral Reefs of the East Indies. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 58, 729–777.
Vacher, H. L. and Quinn, T. M. (eds.), 1997. Geology and Hydrology of Carbonate Islands. Developments in Sedimentology.
Elselvier, Amsterdam, Vol. 54
Verstappen, H. Th., 1954. The influence of climatic change on the
formation of coral islands. American Journal of Science, 252,
428–435.
Woodroffe, C. D., 1993. Morphology and evolution of reef islands
in the Maldives. Proceedings 7th International Coral Reef Symposium, Guam, 7, 1217–1226.
Woodroffe, C. D., 2002. Reef island sedimentation on Indo-Pacific
atolls and platform reefs. Proceedings 9th International Coral
Reef Symposium, Bali, 2, 1187–1192.
Woodroffe, C. D., McLean, R., Polach, H., and Wallensky, E., 1990.
Sea level and coral atolls: late Holocene emergence in the Indian
Ocean. Geology, 18, 62–66.
Cross-references
Atoll Islands (Motus)
Beach Rock
Coral Cay Classification, and Evolution
Coral Cays Geohydrology
Coral Cays, Vegetational Succession
Low Wooded Islands
Unvegetated Cays
CHAMISSO, ADELBERT VON (1781–1838)
James Bowen
Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia
By the end of the eighteenth century, investigation into the
major problems of reef formation and the nature of coral
“insects” had advanced considerably: the definitive investigations by Peysonnell resulted in general agreement that
reefs were created in some way by minuscule polyps.
Aboard the cruise of the Adventure to Tahiti by Cook was
the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–
1798) who distinguished a fundamental feature of atolls,
namely that the formation of a circular structure enables
the coral colonies to resist the rage and power of the ocean.
In the same period, once they gained control of the
North Pacific with their ice-free port of Vladivostock,
the Russians also became active. Of early significance
were the findings of Adelbert von Chamisso, born in
France and later settled in Berlin, the naturalist who
sailed on the first voyage of the Russian ship Rurik in
1815–1818 under the command of Otto von Kotzebue
around the Pacific to the Hawaiian, Marshall and Mariana
groups. In an account entitled “On the Coral Islands” in an
appendix to Kotzebue’s narrative of the voyage, Chamisso
made two important observations.
Firstly, he pointed out that corals thrive best in windward,
turbulent reef fronts, stating that the larger species of corals,
which form blocks measuring several fathoms in thickness,
seem to prefer the more violent surf on the external edge of
the reef a point amplified further on, that the windward side
of the reef, exposed to the unremitting fury of the ocean,
should first rise above the element that created it. His second
observation attempted to explain why atolls appear in wide
expanses of turbulent oceans, almost out of nowhere:
because, he reasoned out, that the corals have founded their
buildings on shoals in the sea; or to speak more correctly, on
the tops of mountains lying under the water, and that, even
further, variation in magnitude and distribution of atoll clusters probably depends on the size of the sub-marine mountain tops, on which their basis is founded.
Once back in Russia, Kotzebue published his findings
in German in 1821 in three volumes under the general title
Reise um die Welt (Voyage around the World), Chamisso
writing much of the third volume, which became available
to English geologists in a translation the same year.
Bibliography
Bowen, J., 2002. The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chamisso, A. von, 1821. On Coral Islands. In Otto von Kotzebue,
Voyage of Discovery into the South Seas and Bering’s Straits.
Trans. H. E. Lloyd, London: Longmans, Hurst, Rees, Orme and
Brown.
Chamisso, A. von, c.1986. A Voyage Around the World with the
Romanzov Exploring Expedition in the Years 1815–1818 in the
Brig rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue. Translated and edited by
Henry Kratz. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Cross-references
Cook, James (1728–1779)
Peysonnell, Jean-Andre (1694–1759)
CLASSIFICATION OF CARBONATES
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall
1
, Peter Flood
2
1
University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA
2
University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Definition and introduction
Rocks are classified in order to communicate information
about them. Limestone classifications are often intended
to convey information about the composition and so, the
depositional setting. All classifications of limestones tend
to be rather arbitrary and they frequently overlap or do not
fit one’s particular needs. Since binocular microscopes or
hand lenses are the tools that are commonly available to
the professional or academic geologist, a practical
CLASSIFICATION OF CARBONATES
193
Transactions Royal Society of London, Series B, 284, 39–61.
Stoddart, D. R., and Steers, J. A., 1977. The nature and origin of
coral reef islands. In Jones, O. A., and Endean, R. (eds.), Biology
and Geology of Coral Reefs. New York, Academic Press, Vol. 4
(2), pp. 59–105.
Stoddart, D. R., Fosberg, F. R., and Spellman, D. L., 1982. Cays of
the Belize Barrier Reef and Lagoon. Atoll Research Bulletin,
256.
Umbgrove, J. H. F., 1947. Coral Reefs of the East Indies. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 58, 729–777.
Vacher, H. L. and Quinn, T. M. (eds.), 1997. Geology and Hydrology of Carbonate Islands. Developments in Sedimentology.
Elselvier, Amsterdam, Vol. 54
Verstappen, H. Th., 1954. The influence of climatic change on the
formation of coral islands. American Journal of Science, 252,
428–435.
Woodroffe, C. D., 1993. Morphology and evolution of reef islands
in the Maldives. Proceedings 7th International Coral Reef Symposium, Guam, 7, 1217–1226.
Woodroffe, C. D., 2002. Reef island sedimentation on Indo-Pacific
atolls and platform reefs. Proceedings 9th International Coral
Reef Symposium, Bali, 2, 1187–1192.
Woodroffe, C. D., McLean, R., Polach, H., and Wallensky, E., 1990.
Sea level and coral atolls: late Holocene emergence in the Indian
Ocean. Geology, 18, 62–66.
Cross-references
Atoll Islands (Motus)
Beach Rock
Coral Cay Classification, and Evolution
Coral Cays Geohydrology
Coral Cays, Vegetational Succession
Low Wooded Islands
Unvegetated Cays
CHAMISSO, ADELBERT VON (1781–1838)
James Bowen
Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia
By the end of the eighteenth century, investigation into the
major problems of reef formation and the nature of coral
“insects” had advanced considerably: the definitive investigations by Peysonnell resulted in general agreement that
reefs were created in some way by minuscule polyps.
Aboard the cruise of the Adventure to Tahiti by Cook was
the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–
1798) who distinguished a fundamental feature of atolls,
namely that the formation of a circular structure enables
the coral colonies to resist the rage and power of the ocean.
In the same period, once they gained control of the
North Pacific with their ice-free port of Vladivostock,
the Russians also became active. Of early significance
were the findings of Adelbert von Chamisso, born in
France and later settled in Berlin, the naturalist who
sailed on the first voyage of the Russian ship Rurik in
1815–1818 under the command of Otto von Kotzebue
around the Pacific to the Hawaiian, Marshall and Mariana
groups. In an account entitled “On the Coral Islands” in an
appendix to Kotzebue’s narrative of the voyage, Chamisso
made two important observations.
Firstly, he pointed out that corals thrive best in windward,
turbulent reef fronts, stating that the larger species of corals,
which form blocks measuring several fathoms in thickness,
seem to prefer the more violent surf on the external edge of
the reef a point amplified further on, that the windward side
of the reef, exposed to the unremitting fury of the ocean,
should first rise above the element that created it. His second
observation attempted to explain why atolls appear in wide
expanses of turbulent oceans, almost out of nowhere:
because, he reasoned out, that the corals have founded their
buildings on shoals in the sea; or to speak more correctly, on
the tops of mountains lying under the water, and that, even
further, variation in magnitude and distribution of atoll clusters probably depends on the size of the sub-marine mountain tops, on which their basis is founded.
Once back in Russia, Kotzebue published his findings
in German in 1821 in three volumes under the general title
Reise um die Welt (Voyage around the World), Chamisso
writing much of the third volume, which became available
to English geologists in a translation the same year.
Bibliography
Bowen, J., 2002. The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chamisso, A. von, 1821. On Coral Islands. In Otto von Kotzebue,
Voyage of Discovery into the South Seas and Bering’s Straits.
Trans. H. E. Lloyd, London: Longmans, Hurst, Rees, Orme and
Brown.
Chamisso, A. von, c.1986. A Voyage Around the World with the
Romanzov Exploring Expedition in the Years 1815–1818 in the
Brig rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue. Translated and edited by
Henry Kratz. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Cross-references
Cook, James (1728–1779)
Peysonnell, Jean-Andre (1694–1759)
CLASSIFICATION OF CARBONATES
Christopher G. St. C. Kendall
1
, Peter Flood
2
1
University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA
2
University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Definition and introduction
Rocks are classified in order to communicate information
about them. Limestone classifications are often intended
to convey information about the composition and so, the
depositional setting. All classifications of limestones tend
to be rather arbitrary and they frequently overlap or do not
fit one’s particular needs. Since binocular microscopes or
hand lenses are the tools that are commonly available to
the professional or academic geologist, a practical
CLASSIFICATION OF CARBONATES
193